The Butterfly Garden (The Collector #1) by Dot Hutchison

Somewhere in upstate New York lies an older mansion with a beautiful garden.

Not just trees and flowers grow in the garden, it also has a vast collection of “butterflies” – young women who have been kidnapped and each bearing an intricate tattoo on her back. Overseeing it all is a man known simply as the Gardener and his obsession goes beyond capturing these lovely creatures to preserving their beauty for all time.

When the garden is discovered, one of the girls is brought in for questioning. The FBI agents tasked with piecing together this intricate puzzle find more than they bargain for when the girl they’re questioning is just as much of a puzzle herself.

The Butterfly Garden is one of several books I picked up when I was given a free preview of Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited.

I admit, dear reader, that I was a little hesitant when I first picked up The Butterfly Garden. Just from the quick blurb I had read, it reminded me of The Girl Before and while I enjoyed that book, I was also left unnerved by it. The same can be said of this book too.

Told primarily from the viewpoint of Maya, one of the survivors of the “butterfly garden”, The Butterfly Garden is a creepy tale of obsession and redemption. The Gardener is a man obsessed with the perfection of youth, his precious butterflies almost never making it past their 21st birthday. The handful that do are cast aside, ignored for their fading beauty and causing them to become bitter.

The Butterfly Garden is a difficult read. There are a variety of subjects that would make it off-putting for some – including kidnapping, rape, and murder. It is deeply disturbing which is why I can’t recommend it for all of my readers.

Readers who enjoyed such psychological tales such as Gone Girl or The Girl Before might enjoy The Butterfly Garden. A fairly quick read but one that is likely to stay with the reader long after they’ve finished the last page.